Page 27 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

NO DOUBT brECK forewarned the mothers not to ask questions at dinner.

Though it may not have been necessary. Alice and Carolyn were savvy parents used to their children leading their own lives their own ways.

More so the latter than the former. In honesty, the whole prying thing sort of didn’t apply to them anyway.

With all the ups and downs of her and Breck’s relationship, whatever the answer in the morning, it wasn’t always the same in the evening, so why waste the breath?

Roxie and Tripp tagged along for the evening meal, but, as suspected, slunk off to the club later while she and Breck went back to the hotel suite alone.

And before anyone asked, yes, they slept together, no, they didn’t have sex.

That surprise deserved a high five… and possibly a cold shower.

As much as she wanted him, disappointing him overrode her selfish desire.

Giving in would only be cruel. She couldn’t make any promises and didn’t want to give him false hope. This could still all go to shit.

While their friends still slumbered, she and Breck had breakfast in bed, checked out the news, and discussed the media furor around Zairn’s “affair.”

“Roxie was completely unaffected. It just bounced right off like they were talking about a stranger,” she said, forcing herself to put the coffee back on the provided over-bed table. The Grand was full service; every eventuality was accounted for. “I should shower, my meeting’s in an hour.”

“Our meeting,” Breck said, folding his newspaper to put it on the table too.

Always efficient, he’d already showered. He did that while she lounged in bed waiting for their breakfast to appear.

“I’m still not convinced you should come. People shouldn’t see us together.”

“You have never cared about being seen with me in New York. Or anywhere else. We’ve been seen on the streets of LA together before.”

“We’ve never been seen together entering a District Attorney’s office. This could be dangerous.”

“Which is not a recommended argument when trying to convince me it’s better you do this alone.” In only his underwear, he got out of the bed to rise to full-height and hubba-hubba, why hadn’t she taken advantage of him the previous night? “I’ll call and change the appointment.”

Didn’t that just shake loose the abs distraction. “Change it? Why would you—I don’t want to change it. How long do you expect us to be in LA? I won’t take advantage of your father’s kindness indefinitely. First, he loses you, then you drag his wife across the country because of me.”

“Breckenridge will survive without us.”

“I don’t want it to survive without us, I want it to survive with us, to need us.”

“Okay,” he said, and came to rest his hands on her shoulders without doing a great job of hiding how he enjoyed her being overwrought. “Calm down. I wasn’t suggesting we should delay the meeting. We’ll change the location. Have him come here.”

His logic made sense in the face of her argument but… “Are you sure that’s a great idea with Roxie—she’s paying for the suite and—”

“It’s Bastian’s hotel, no one is paying for anything.”

That wasn’t the soundest business model, probably why she always forgot it.

They didn’t pay for things because the families went way back.

As for Roxie, she probably paid in the past, before her introduction to Bastian.

Though… Zairn knew him, so maybe she hadn’t.

Did anyone pay for anything? How did these billionaires make money or stay rich when they gave so much away?

“Still wouldn’t be polite to bring Ackley into her personal space.”

“We can do it downstairs, in another room or suite. Or I’ll talk to Roxanna and—”

“Why doesn’t she like Bastian?”

“Why doesn’t she—I have no idea. What makes you think she doesn’t like him?”

“I think she’s okay with him now, but when we introduced them she seemed, I don’t know… wary. I’m curious.”

“Ask Tripp.”

Yeah, that would be a better idea except they hadn’t been alone long enough for it to come up. It couldn’t be like she was too eager to pry.

But while on the subject of unknown information… “You didn’t tell me Bastian and Robyn split up.”

“Does it upset you? You were never fond of her.”

“She didn’t care about Bastian. They were together but, she was cold, Bastian deserves better than cold; he’s not cold. And there was no equality, it was always him running around after her.”

“Darroch runs around after Savanna, you have no objection to her. None you’ve voiced to me.”

Her head dropped to the side. “You only have to look at them together to know she’s as besotted by him as he is by her. You notice it more from the guy side because he’s your brother.”

“She needed a lot of coaxing to accept the lifestyle. Still does.”

“And she loves your brother in spite of that.”

Breck’s brows rose. “In spite of him being rich? It’s hardly a failing.”

“Money doesn’t excuse all sins. Not everyone is comfortable with it. Roxie wasn’t, sometimes still isn’t, she just hides it better.”

“It will be interesting to see how that plays out at the wedding.”

“Because it will be a big, grand show? No expense spared? That’s for the people, the fans, not for her.

Her best friend, Jane, organized the whole thing because she likes that sort of thing.

Weddings and bows, and… the pretty, fluffy things.

I think if it was down to Roxie and Zairn themselves, they’d have eloped. ”

“Not easy to elope when you have such recognizable faces.”

“There’s something romantic about it, isn’t there?

” she asked, skimming her arms around him to hold herself close.

Of course that meant her head went back and the slow moistening of his lips betrayed how he liked lording over the view.

“They’re so well known, the world think they know them, but they still hold something of themselves back. ”

“Is that what you want now? Fame?”

“Good God, no.” Which he knew. “We’re not that different to them, if you think about it. Everyone knows we’re together, they just don’t… know.”

“They don’t understand.”

“Yes.”

“Coy, baby, sometimes I don’t understand.”

On a laugh, she buried her face against his chest. “Isn’t that what makes the chase so fun?”

“For the first five years, maybe. Now I wonder if you’ll ever stop running.”

The air crackled. “I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. Whichever way it goes, the finish line is in sight, I promise, Stat. I promise. One way or the other—”

“That’s what you don’t understand. You think there’s a choice in this for me.”

“There is.”

“You are my choice, Sequoia, and whatever the hell shit we have to deal with—”

“Don’t swear.” Her arms dropped as she stepped away. “You know how to express yourself better than that.”

He should given the price of his education.

“You don’t realize how much of your past you carry around every minute.”

Not smart to remind her. “If I’m so burdened, why put up with me at all?”

“That’s what I’m trying to explain. I’ve accepted it. I accepted it long ago. I love you for it. God, I know you better than you know yourself.”

She couldn’t deny he had an astounding way of anticipating her, but that statement was a helluva presumptive.

“If you knew me that well, you’d know this isn’t a choice for me either. We will be together if my father is out of the way—”

“Your father lives in your head, Coy. He always has. I know that part of you, accept that part of you, love that part of you.”

“You love me for being screwed up by my father?”

“I love that in spite of your start, you’ve made an incredible life for yourself. Why can’t you let me be a part of it?”

“Because I love you, and I don’t want to ruin you.”

“You know what some of my brothers have been through.” When she tried to turn away, he grabbed her shoulder to bring her back. “What my family has been through with them. Do we ever turn them away and say it’s too hard?”

“That’s what you do for family. You fight for them.”

Virtuous family anyway, the exact opposite of hers.

“You are my family. Name or not, you’ve been a Breckenridge since before we ever met.

You’ve been a Breckenridge since before you met any of us.

It happened the moment my father got the call from yours.

He’d never let anyone live like that, with the constrictions, the chains, the dictatorship.

The disrespect. Whether you worked for the company or not, he’d have made sure you were one of us. ”

“Oh, so it was my sob story that got me the job? All these years I’ve worked for the company and you’re telling me it’s nothing to do with my ability, and everything to do with my oppression? Thanks. I wish one of you let that slip out sooner.”

“Nothing slips out of me. My words are always deliberate.” His grip on her shoulder tightened to pull her back. “My father adores you, my mother, my brothers, all of us. We want you to be a part of our family and you keep pushing us away.”

“For your own good.”

“And now we’re going to have a child—”

“I’m not pregnant.”

“Whether you’re carrying my child this instant or not is irrelevant, it’s going to happen.

” And with his steely determination focused solely on her, she couldn’t refute that.

No matter how many times they tried to end it, the line beneath their sexual relationship always grayed.

“Roxie was right, we should get another test.”

“The pizza thing—”

“Is no coincidence. Your father’s looming large in our lives again and you start breaking his rules.”

What was he…? “No pizza,” she whispered.

“No junk food. Wasn’t Joey allowed to eat and drink anything he wanted?

His girls weren’t allowed to make poor food choices, to gain weight, to be ‘sloppy’ as he called it.

” Maybe she shouldn’t have been so open with Breck through the years.

“Some part of your subconscious wants to remind you that you’re an adult, disconnected from that previous life, capable of making your own decisions. ”

A few seconds of reflection stretched. It took her mind a while to catch up with his words.

“Decisions you don’t accept. I am making my own decisions; they’re just not the ones you want me to make.”

“You want a child. Isn’t having a baby your decision? I want to make that happen. We agree on—”

“We agreed before you went around telling everyone. Now I’m not sure it can ever happen.”

Because even if she went to a sperm bank, no one would ever believe any of her offspring weren’t Breck’s.

And her promise to him… it wasn’t even about her promise, her biology rebelled against the idea of carrying another man’s child.

The idea physically sickened her. Which was crazy because not all the Breckenridges were blood.

Having Breck’s child was an exciting notion. It thrilled her. A zing of desperate excitement shot through her every time the idea seeded itself. There was a future she wanted, he was right. Except aspiring to something didn’t change the circumstances.

“I won’t leave you wanting.”

No, he never did. Why couldn’t he see she valued him just the same?

“You deserve so much happiness. This life—what I put you through. It’s unfair. Can’t you see how much simpler your life would be if you just… let go…”

“All these years…” His hand fell to his side as the corner of his mouth curled. “It’s never occurred to me once.”

The back of his fingers drifted across her cheek and she moistened her lips in anticipation of his. Had she ever convinced herself she wasn’t his wholly and completely? Where was the line now?

The sudden blare of the phone by the bed startled them both; he hid it better. Leaving her there without his kiss, frustrated, and a little petulant, he went to answer it.